The Broken Clock on the Wall
by EtOhPower
Summary: On some level, Zero knew that he would have to take blood at some point. He punched the wall instead" Kaname x Zero, eventually. Post Ch 51 fic--Zero has spent a year alone--but what's a year between vampires?
1. Prologue

A/N: These are a bitch, aren't they? Anyways, I'm totally escaping from real life and publishing deadlines right now to write this—and no one appreciates it anyways. 

Anyways, the theme for this piece: Broken by Lifehouse on infinite repeat :P

Summaries: Impatience for the release of ch 52?

Warnings: It's fairly tame and (I hope) fairly cannon-y, so you're safe for now—if you don't mind spoilers like woah. However, it is COMPLETELY UN-BETA-ED, I'm looking for one, btw, who's okay with mature encounters of the Yaoi kind.

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A Prologue

Zero bit back a curse as the chalky blood tablet burned down his throat.

It would be his luck to choke on the damn things.

Eyes watering, he cast a miserable look out the window, and the bright sunshine—the sun was still high, and it probably wouldn't set for another two hours. Another 120 minutes before he could lose himself in the hunt, the desperate adrenaline rush of giving into his instincts. He ignored the tiny voice that reminded him that those instincts weren't even remotely human.

On some level, he knew that he would have to take blood at some point. The clawing pain at his chest seemed to agree with this thought rather eagerly, pounding a rather violent pulse of pain through his body and tinting the world red. The bloodlust was nowhere near as desperate as it had been just a year ago, but Zero still longed for the rush of sweet blood, the give of soft flesh under his fangs, the smell of fear and then resigna---

He punched a hole in the wall instead.

"Umm, excuse me Kiryu-kun?" A soft voice interrupted his reverie, and Zero just fought back the urge to draw his gun.

"What do you want?" He articulated carefully around his growing fangs. The girl smelled so good. The usually oppressive silence of Zero's apartment only served to highlight the sound of her blood rushing through her veins with each beat of her heart.

"I'm sorry, the Chairman told me to drop off a few things from your old dorm room. It's me, Hijita Youko, your class representative?" A touch of concern went into her voice as Zero visibly trembled.

"Leave it."_God, please just leave_, Zero pleaded mentally. His eyes already glowed red in the dimly lit room.

"Kiryu-kun, I …ah, I know we haven't ever really talked in class, but if you need any help… Kiryu-kun? Please talk to me, you don't seem like yourself."

The girl stepped closer, and Zero tried to scream at her to run, but it was already too late. With superhuman speed, Zero's arm latched on to Hijita Youko's wrist and yanked her down to her knees. Zero's world was a haze of red mist and the thunder of blood pounding in his ears. He pinned down the now screaming girl and covered her mouth automatically, while tilting her head back to expose that pale, soft throat. Extending his fangs, he quickly licked the throat, feeling the pulse jump under his touch and opened his mouth to bite down.

Suddenly, a heavy object fell with a soft thump, and the red receded as Zero turned away from the sobbing girl under him. Reaching into his pocket for the memory modification potion, he mechanically tended to the girl.

"Your name is Hijita Youko. You came to check in on your classmate, Kiryu Zero" His voice caught a little at that, but he continued. "Kiryu was not in his room, so you let yourself in, when you passed out from exhaustion. You don't remember anything beyond that. When you wake up, you will be in your bed, and you will not remember having met Kiryu at all."

Zero breath was already speeding up again. He curse as the bloodlust was coming back again. Opening a bottle of water, he hurriedly chugged down the rest of the blood tablets and distracted himself by checking on the source of the interruption which had saved Hijita Youko's life.

It was that damned cursed doll Kaname had given him.

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Review if you like it. I'll definitely continue it if there is enough interest. And also PM me if you want to beta.

Otherwise, submit fanfic ideas and I'll divert attention to a new project, since I can really only work on one thing at a time.


	2. Chapter 1: Pardon My French

A/N: Kaname/Zero will begin to develop in this chapter, but I planned this thing to be around 25 chapters, so that should give you an idea of the pacing.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Hopefully, I address some of the latent errors in this chapter.

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Chapter 1: Pardon My French

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Zero called Chairman Cross to inform him of the missing prefect.

No, he did not actually bite her; Yes, he wiped her memories; and for the last time, he did not need to feed off his "dear old dad." This sentiment was punctuated by Zero pressing the end key repeatedly, wishing that he could somehow slam the cell phone without breaking it. It wasn't as if Zero didn't appreciate Chairman Cross. He was grateful for everything the Chairman had done for him, albeit more grateful when the man kept his distance. Zero didn't need—couldn't afford to need another father, and the tension in the man's frame—no doubt a leftover from his hunter training—whenever Cross offered Zero his blood was painful.

Zero decided to distract himself by taking the cursed doll out to the dumpster. It was too bitter a memory, not to mention that it irked him that the Chairman had decided to drop off the giant doll instead of bringing Zero his clothes from the school.

The smirk on the doll's face when it fell in the non-existent breeze reminded him of Kaname Kuran.

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Ibaragi Makoto could not believe what he was seeing. Sure, the grainy cell phone video was questionable at best, but its content was undeniable. A real, live vampire feeding on a girl before dropping her and simply disappearing!

Rubbing his eyes as he looped the video for the umpteenth time, Ibaragi's eyes widened with the realization that he may have just landed on the scoop of a lifetime.

"Hold all my calls, Sakura. I'm going on a stakeout in France"

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Zero's senses were on high alert. His current target had evaded capture for over a year now. It was one of the original vampires set free from the Hunter's Association's bowels, and Zero's orders could not be clearer.

"Terminate with extreme prejudice." The final grade of assignment, this vampire could not be allowed to live. He had already left a bloody swath on the streets of Paris, having migrated over from the Carpathians sometime in November. Zero had followed him for almost a week now. Unfortunately, the streets were constantly swarmed with Christmastime crowds. Children and mothers, lovers chatting happily—all of them passed the lone, silver-haired figure without even a second thought.

Zero ignored the pang he felt at this. Last Christmas, Yuki had tried to make a Yule Log and almost burned the house down, until Zero staged and intervention. He fingered the ring in his pocket. He had backed off from giving it to her at the last minute, and handed her a bar of chocolate instead, and a quip about how she needed to watch her weight. It had been the first Christmas where he didn't have to hide his growing vampirism.

Yuki smiled as she gave him a scarf, but even as they sang carols, he could see her staring wistfully out the window. Waiting for HIM.

The school grounds had been far too quiet without the vampires, and as much as he hated to admit it, the disconcerting emptiness of the Moon dorms were as much a reason for his decision to live off campus as his growing tolerance for blood tablets.

The sudden scent of blood interrupted his reverie. Spinning on his heel, Zero ran to the source of blood with inhuman speed, Bloody Rose out and ready. The leech wouldn't get away from him this time.

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Three figures entered the dark Parisian alleyway that night. Only one came out, silver hair splattered with blood, matching the equally gruesome palette of the gun tucked into his jacket. It wouldn't do to attract more attention than absolutely necessary.

The actually encounter had lasted only seconds. The sight of the Level E's fangs leaving the girl (brunette, and small—too small to be Yuki, but still…) had reduced Zero to a reddened haze of fury. He descended on the vampire with a vengeance, bullets tearing into flesh. The gunshots were a poor substitute for what he really wanted to do; to rend his claws in the flesh of that monster, of that final reminder of what Zero could have, and would have been.

He ducked into the stream of Christmas revelers, and slipped away into the seedy, nondescript motel he rented by the hour, unaware of the click of the telescopic lens which followed him.

The first thing Zero did was strip and head to the shower. The smell of blood was already causing his breathing to become ragged and uneven. As he scrubbed the blood from his hair and his hands, the generic 3 fl oz shampoo bottle caught his eye.

"Rinse, and repeat as necessary"

Rinse away the blood, and repeat. Repeat, repeat, repeat to stave off the hunger. Rinse away the need to lick the blood off, and repeat, continue killing the men he could have been, the monsters who took away Yuki, and then rinse again.

The water had already gotten cold by the time Zero stepped out of shower, and he ignored the questionable towels in favor of collapsing atop the flowery coverlet. The perfect color to avoid showing blood, his mind supplied.

As the rising sun cast bloody rays over the streets of the City of Love, a silver head burrowed into his pillow and dreamt of blood, and chess, and short brown hair.

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"Monsieur Kuran, what a pleasure it is to have you here. You should have notified us earlier, we could have sent someone to chauffeur you." The rather portly attempted a bow to punctuate his sentiment, and nearly fell over in the attempt. Seiren stifled a smirk at the gracelessness of human politicians, while Kaname merely looked on.

"There was no need, and the pleasure is mine, Monsieur Ministre de la Justice." Kaname ignored the sweaty proffered palm in favor of taking a seat in the over- appointed parlor. None of the vampires were particularly impressed by the neo-Renaissance décor, but they followed Kaname's lead and sat down. After all, most of them had things in their closet older that the so-called antiques that the Minister of Justice was trying to show off.

"I'll get straight to business. My sources tell me that the Shirabuki Family is currently residing in an estate about one hour from Bordeaux. I would like you to seize their assets. You may provide whatever reason you wish, but I want to smoke out Sara Shirabuki by whatever means necessary." Kaname spoke rather quietly, if unhurried and matter-of-fact.

"Eh…Monsieur Kuran I… you have to understand, there are certain protocols to follow, and I, well, I certainly sympathize with you but I can't just." The minister was actively squirming in the high backed armchair.

"Of course. I also understand that a significant portion of your party's campaign funds came for Ichijo enterprises, which I now control. It would be rather untenable however, if it were revealed that certain portions of that money was spent on personal effects, such as a world-class personal collection of Fabrige Eggs?"

A strangled gasp punctuated this statement, as the older man began to hyperventilate, his eyes wide.

"I expect Sara Shirabuki to be denied any form of safe harbor in France by the end of the month, Monsieur Minister. I trust that's not too much of an imposition? "

A mute nod.

"Good. It was a pleasure doing business with you." With that, Kaname Kuran swept out of the room, Seiren in tow.

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"I'm sorry, Monsieur Kuran, but due to current weather conditions, your personal flight has been cancelled. We will be sure to refund you the money, and I have already booked a seat for you aboard the first commercial flight; Air France, Flight 86, departing at noon. You have our most humble apologies for this inconvenience."

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"Let me go! I'm going to miss my flight!" A disgruntled silver haired boy struggled against the burly TSA agent in vain.

"I'm sorry sir, but until I'm afraid you are going to have to check your firearm. It's policy."

"This gun goes where I go. I have the documentation, as I've told you a hundred times. I'm not a fucking terrorist, I just don't trust idiots like you with my stuff." Zero emphasized his point with a kick to the shins of the guard, a move which earned him a swift punch to the gut.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave the line."

Two hours and a phone call to Hunter Headquarters later, one incredibly irate hunter finally reached the Air France ticket counter for the second time that day.

"Sir, I'll get you on the first flight out, okay?" The dark mood the boy was in was palpable, and a visible perimeter followed him. Holding her hands in the universal gesture of appeasement, the flight attendant shakily continued.

"How about a nice window seat on Air France Flight 86? It leaves at noon."

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Lol, okay, I totally planned for them have some interaction during this chapter, but that just didn't happen. I'm trying to keep them in character, and between Kaname being a type A personality and Zero repressing any remotely romantic feelings in favor of his "kill vampires, esp. Purebloods" campaign, it becomes difficult to make them behave the way I want them to.

Btw, I am absolute crap at dialogue. And action. And romance. Geez, I should have just made them a smutfic, shouldn't I?

My expected update schedule is extremely iffy. I'll shoot for 1 chapter every 2 weeks, but I recently came down with the flu, so I'm in an internet deprived hellhole/quarantine center.

I also know nothing about the actual structure of the French government beyond the typical "Sarkozy is a douche" and "Rashida Dhati is absolutely incompetent". I only assume the apocalypse that brought about the vampires led to governmental restructuring.


	3. Chapter 2: Incomplete Mile High Club

**Chapter 2: Welcome to the Mile High Club (IN PROGRESS)  
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One thing should be remembered, before you judge Angela Harkins, is that she never wanted kids. She was going places; she had TALENT. And then she had Joseph. At the tender age of 17, Ice Queen Angela of Sacred Heart Preparatory School for girls was a single mother.

It's not as if she hated children, but she never really wanted them to be hers—they just seemed a bit…dirty. To top it all off, she was now slinking back home after yet another country failed to pan out. So, with this understanding, we should probably have forgiven her for the Prozack and lithium cocktail she served herself while the plane was boarding. Unfortunately, on a transatlantic flight, it also meant that Joseph hadn't been changed or fed, and was, for all intents and purposes, unattended in seat 28B. Suffice to say, the noise alone was enough to make man five rows back pale with apprehension as he observed the belly of his pregnant wife.

That was how one Zero Kiryuu found seat 28A approximately 30 minutes later, when one very flustered flight attendant stopped the plane, which had already begun its track down the runway to admit the silver haired hunter.

To the casual observer, Zero's face expressed only mild irritation at the noise. The past year had been nothing f not a test of his ability to control his emotions. However, there was very real panic beginning to come over him. A sharp pang of bloodlust swept over him as he saw the child—the caterwauling fading to white noise amidst the rush of blood in veins; veins under such thin skin, and such a small, delicate heartbeat. A voice that was not his, no, it couldn't be his, shrieked in delight at the easy prey.

_Prey_. Wasn't that what he accused Kuran of treating the Day Class like?

Zero's hand moved to clutch his chest as if to physically repel the dark red fire burning through him. Calm, steady breaths. He could do this.

"Ma'am, can I switch to a different seat? This is really—"

"Monsieur Kiryuu," the stewardess grated the name out, so each syllable became a cacophony of scorn andbarely suppressed rage. "I cannot do zat. It eez a full airplane. I must ask you to please sit down and allow us to take off."

"Oh yeah? And what about that seat just three rows back?" Screw politeness. Zero had a flash of morbid curiosity at the reactions that would greet a more blunt observation, such as "Unless you want this plane to turn into a blood bath, you will move me away from the goddamn human hors d'oevres." The thought made him smile grimly, and the sheen of perspiration on the stewardess's face kicked up a notch.

Still, she stood firm. "I'm sorry sir, I really can't. Zis seat belongs to anozer passeng—"

"Who's thirty minutes late?"

She just gave him a look, and Kiryuu at least had the grace to look a bit embarrassed at the hypocrisy. But only for a minute.

"Who the heck could be that important?" Zero was fuming—he hated arrogant jerks who were just so damn superior about everything. A voice that was rather alarmingly similar to the Headmaster suddenly reminded him that it wasn't necessarily Kuran he was dealing with—it could be some inspirational world leader, or a famous artist, or it could be

"Kaname Kuran."

Fuck.

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If Kaname had been a little more alert, he may have sensed the temperamental hunter before his custom made Peugeot even rolled onto the tarmac. Despite his caffeine deprived state, however, there was no way anyone could have missed the silver haired boy trying to leap out of the emergency exit of the plane.

_Well, at least it'll be an interesting flight._

"Let go of me! You don't understand! I'll just get a new plane ticket; I can't be on this flight!" Zero thrashed against the three flight attendants currently holding him back from the emergency exit door he had opened.

"Sir, SIT THE FUCK DOWN. We can't let you get off now, it's a security breach." The flight attendant to his left ground out.

Zero cursed Yagari for making him promise not to get himself on the No Fly List. It was the only thing preventing him from detonating one of his more flashy weapons and escaping.

"My, Kiryuu-kun. You really should consider trying to be a bit more helpful. After all, such behavior is so indicative of a _lower class_, no?"

Lilac eyes widened as Kaname unveiled his presence behind the hunter.

The pureblood allowed himself a smirk as a silver head whipped up so quickly that it seemed to cause even the ex-human a moment of pain. The hunter was so predictable at moments like this that Kaname suddenly felt a wave of nostalgia for their school days. Hadn't he played Kiryuu just like this, with the rude brat hissing at him every step of the way?

The feeling lasted until he got a good look at the younger (and still shorter, he noted) vampire. The past year had seemed almost like a dream for Kaname, but it seemed that it had been anything but unreal for the hunter. There was a line of tension around his mouth and eyes that should not have been there for decades, and his eyes…

The lurking madness sent a pang through Kaname unlike anything he had ever felt before. Even when Zero had been forced into feeding off Yuki, his pale lavender irises held fire, challenge, and while Kaname originally thought nothing irritated him so much as the blatant disrespect that Zero showed him, he found himself far more discomfited by the dead, cloudy glaze that he now saw.

It reminded him of his own reflection, in a past lifetime, centuries and centuries ago.

Suddenly a soft voice, too quiet for the humans to hear reached his ear.

" Switch seats with me Kuran."

Despite knowing the hazards of showing his emotions on his face, Kaname couldn't help freezing for a moment from the shock. This tone was incomprehensibly reverential coming from Kiryuu. He nodded in consent automatically.

As he sat down amidst the protests of the flight attendants, he could not help flashing back to the desperation he had seen in Kiryu, and his own instinctive response to try to make it better. He had no illusions about how Kiryuu felt about him, so why did he consent so readily to his request? It had simply seemed so natural, so instinctive, to help out the younger boy.

Releasing a bit of his aura, Kaname quieted the wailing child. The newfound silence did nothing to prevent him from flashing back to Zero's smile of relief, and the warmth that it filled him with.

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Zero could feel Kaname despite the distance between them, and it was driving him crazy. It was as if every beat of the pureblood ever-living heart mocked Zero with flashbacks of the time he took Kaname's blood.

_Blood was everywhere. It was rushing down his throat, too pure and too hot to linger on his tongue. It ran on, slippery, sloppily through his body, burning him from the inside even as his skin overheated from the minimal contact it had with the pureblood. It was bliss, and for once, Zero felt at peace._

Zero snapped out of his reverie with the mortifying revelation that both his fangs and something else far more embarrassing had been stimulated by the memory. He cursed and stood up to the bathroom, unaware of another pair of eyes on him.

Kaname didn't mean to watch Zero like a hawk—it just happened that his senses registered the sudden spike in bloodlust, and as he turned backwards to observe the source of the disturbance, he spotted blood red eyes, and a flush that threatened to match on Zero's face. His sense fell into hyper alert as Zero stalked past him on his way to the bathroom, and he saw a young boy ahead of the ex-human.

His eyes widened as he realized the danger that Zero was putting everyone in. Moving with vampire speed, Kaname flew from his seat, grabbing the hunter and dragging him into the lavatory. Grimly, he set himself between the door and Kiryuu. They would have this out, even if he had to kill the owner of half of Yuki's heart.

Zero's instincts went into overdrive the minute Kaname grabbed his wrist.

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This really isn't the finished product, but I needed to just post something and fuggedaboudit for a bit. Hope you enjoy. Expect about 7,000 words of stuff by Christmas, but I'm in finals right now, and thus it all depends on my ability to procrastinate. Thank you to everyone who reads and puts up with my mania.

Sorry, sorry, sorry about the delays in updating!!! This story had NOT been abandoned, I'm just being slow since I decided to rewrite the plot and have now scrapped all previous notes.


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